A signature is worth a thousand words

“Sally is calling all our customers.”

“Does she have a noncompete?”

“Yes.’

“Does the noncompete say she can’t call our customers for one year after she leaves?”

“Yes”

"Ok, let's call the lawyer."

Silence...

“Did she sign the noncompete?”

Silence….

The difference between exactly and approximately

“Hey, I got an investor.”

“Great, you may be the only entrepreneur to get VC money in 2009.” [Kidding]

“He wants to know how many shares we have outstanding.”

“OK, that’s a normal request.”

“Well, I can tell him approximately how many…”

What you don’t know can hurt you

“Harry is leaving the company.”

“How many options has he vested?”

“I don’t know.”                  

“How many options did we grant him?”

“I don’t know, a million, I think.”

“Do we have a copy of the option grant?”

“I don’t know where it is.”

“How long does he have to exercise?”

“Not sure.”

“Where is a copy of the option plan.”

“Not sure, I think the lawyer has it.”

I could go on, and on, and on. Each of these is a little thing, but it could have a big consequence. 99.9% of the time the consequence is loss of time and increase of aggravation. Yes, your lawyer probably does have a copy of the plan.  Yes, you probably can get to an exact share count etc. But that will take time and cost money. Every now and then, however, it is a real killer. That noncompete that is not signed. Just try enforcing that. 

There is no time like the present.  Start keeping orderly record immediately.